


0426

by muniatregia



Series: Hominum Ex Machina [2]
Category: Original Work
Genre: Clones, Dehumanizing Language, Fictional slavery, Gen, mentions of throat mutilation
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-26
Updated: 2020-07-26
Packaged: 2021-03-06 04:27:56
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 925
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25537324
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/muniatregia/pseuds/muniatregia
Summary: Writing about Verne Daniels, a member of the Hominum Ex Machina crew who is a clone.
Relationships: No Romantic Relationship(s)
Series: Hominum Ex Machina [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1355908





	0426

**Author's Note:**

> I wasn't sure how to tag it, but in this story clones are considered non-sentient and can be kept as slaves. There isn't any graphic description of what that entails, but I wanted potential readers to know just in case it bothers anyone.

He knew they were out there. People with his face. Clones from the unregistered factory on XSH-73601. He was 0426. There had to be at least 425 men exactly like him. He never thought he’d see one of them.

It was an average courier mission, sending a gift from someone on NDK-83529 to their cousin on KSH-72812. Verne had been chosen to carry out the drop off- he drew the shortest wire from the jumble of excess cables in Saro’s toolbox. As he made his way through the crowd, careful not to jostle the package in his arms, he saw him. 

He towered over the crowd of Aninites, almost unnaturally tall for a human. 2 meters tall. Regulation size. From his straight nose to the slight arch of his brows, Verne felt like he was looking in a mirror. He felt a surge of nausea twist his gut as he realized what he was looking at. Another clone. A clone from the factory on XSH-73601.

Verne began elbowing his way through the crowd, dropping the package in his rush to meet his doppelganger. He saw the clone turn the corner and quickened his pace to catch up with him, desperation fueling him as he broke into a sprint. All he could hear was the pounding of his pulse in his ears as he ran after his ‘brother’, the mission forgotten, unfathomably meaningless compared to the possibility of meeting another clone from the same factory -- the same parent.

Verne knew the chances of learning about the factory were slim, but he couldn’t let the opportunity slip out of his fingers. Gaining on his brother, he reached for him until his outstretched fingers caught on the rough fabric of his shirt. Gripping his shoulder, Verne turned the other clone around to look him in the eye. 

It was like a mirror. This close, Verne could see the small mole on his neck, the way his left eye was slightly more hooded than his right, the downturn at the corners of his mouth. His grip had shifted the collar of the clone’s shirt, revealing the ID number seared into his collarbone- 0324. This clone was his older brother. 

“Hello?” Verne tried in Anini, guessing that his brother spoke the language of KSH-72812. The clone simply stared. Verne tried again, “Hello? Can you understand me?”

“What do you think you’re doing?” Verne turned to the small Aninite speaking to him. “Why are you harassing my  _ nn’imi _ ?” she asked, using a word Verne wasn’t familiar with. “I’m sorry, I just wanted to speak with him,” he explained. “Speak with him?” She asked, incredulous, “Who do you think I am?” She cut Verne off before he could reply, “I had its vocal cords clipped. You think I don’t follow the  _ nn’imi  _ codes?” 

Verne’s blood ran cold as he remembered what the crew had told him. The government of KSH-72812 had a clause in their anti-slavery laws that allowed for the trafficking and purchasing of artificially created beings. A  _ nn’imi,  _ a clone, was legally property - they had no names, no rights, and no autonomy. 

The Aninite looked closely at his face, reaching up to push his blue bangs out of his eyes. Her face lit up with understanding. “It’s a clone!” she declared to the rest of the people in the marketplace. “Where’s its owner?” she asked the crowd around her, her hand on Verne’s shoulder to keep him in place. Verne grabbed her wrist, yanking her hand away. “I have a name,” he insisted angrily, “and so should he!” Verne grabbed his brother, pulling him away from the Aninites around them.

He was overwhelmed with a sense of urgency, a need to protect his brother from this planet, these people. Easily shoving away the Aninites around them, Verne began dragging the other clone through the crowd, towards the bay where the satellite ship was docked. Verne wanted to bring his brother to the ship, introduce him to the crew - they’d take him in just like they did with Verne.

His wishful thinking was interrupted by a firm grip on his arm. Verne looked down at the Aninite police officer who grabbed him. “Since you can speak, inform your owner that allowing a clone outside unsupervised is an offense punishable by a fine.” Verne knew he was only making the situation worse, but he couldn’t hold himself back. 

“I don’t have an owner!” he yelled, yanking his arm out of the officer’s grasp. “I’m not an object,” he insisted to the crowd gathering to gawk at the commotion, “I’m a human! A being!” Verne’s words seemed to fall on deaf ears, the Aninites turning away from the commotion. “He is too!” Verne declared, raising his brother’s hand in his.

The Aninites murmured amongst themselves, most of them beginning to walk away from the spectacle Verne was making. Verne desperately tried to make eye contact, even the smallest connection with anyone in the crowd. As the officer unclipped the cuffs from her belt, Verne made a snap decision. Locking his arm with his brother’s, he shoved his way into the crowd. His brother seemed shocked to be separated from his ‘owner’, looking back at her as if waiting for instruction. 

“Don’t look for her,” he pleaded, “you don’t need her! You should be free!”

Verne was dragging the other clone through the streets. His brother wasn’t trying to run, as if freedom wasn’t something he had even considered. He let the righteous anger fuel him, determined to bring 324 back to the ship. 

**Author's Note:**

> I'm planning on continuing this but I'm not sure where to go from here, haha


End file.
